A ROBBER who leapt over the counter to steal from a Post Office has been jailed for six years.

Kenneth Dring escaped with nearly £4,000 in cash and was spotted outside with his hands full of bundles of bank notes.

But he was later tracked down in a wooded area by a police dog.

The raid on the Post Office in Hoddlesden took place one afternoon last December.

Dring took a large parcel into the premises to be weighed and suddenly made his move when the hatch was opened to allow the parcel to go through.

He put his hands through the hatch, preventing a woman behind the counter from closing it before jumping through feet first, Miss Mercedeh Jabbari, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court.

The woman on duty pressed the panic alarm but Dring asked for the safe to be opened.

When he was told this could not be done as it was on time lock he searched drawers, taking around £3,800 in bundles of notes.

After he left a female motorist saw him carrying bundles of notes in his hand and managed to flag down a passing police van.

Dring headed towards the Millennium Green and then a wooded area and he was discovered in the wooded area after polie dogs and the force helicopter were called to the area.

He tired to hide an air pistol which he had with him and bank notes were found on him.

Dring, 42, of Stockbridge Village, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to robbery and having a firarm with intent to commit an offence.

The court heard that in 1996 he was given seven years in jail for three offences of robbery.

Mr Mark Steward, defending, said "This was a very ill thought through robbery. It has all the hallmarks of quite an amateurish incident.

"It was clearly financially motivated and borne out of his using heroin.

"It was almost inevitable that he would be located and subsequently arrested, given that there was good quality CCTV evidence."

Mr Steward said the air weapon was never taken into the shop or produced.